In recent years, the plastic industry has developed rapidly and plastic products can be seen everywhere in our life. As plastic features light weight, corrosion resistance, friction resistance, tractability and nice appearance, increasing manufacturers use plastic products to replace metal and wood products. The color of plastic that we see in our daily life is bright and shining with white color as its mainstream. For example, the colors of doors and windows made by plastic or steel and water pipes are mainly white. It is fluorescent whitening agent for plastics that delivers white and shining products.
Fluorescent whitening agent is currently used as an indispensable additive in plastic products. The original color of white plastic is light yellow and the reason lies in that white items slightly absorb blue light on the short-wave side of visible light. As such, the color of white items is affected and become light yellow. In order to improve appearance and quality of product, most manufacturers would like to add fluorescent whitening agent in the production process because it can absorb ultraviolet light and then emit the light in the form of fluorescence in the blue-violet region. Since the plastic yellowish light offsets blue purple light, the plastic is whitened. This is the principle of fluorescent whitening agent for plastic. The result of whitening is to increase the whiteness of the plastic without reducing its brightness and to make it more white, bright and pleasing to the eye.
Well, there are many kinds of plastic whitening agent and brightening agents. This passage will take you to address how to choose a suitable whitening agent for plastic products.
Different products use different fluorescent whitening agents, but some fluorescent brightening agents can be universal. Commonly used fluorescent whitening agents in plastic production are OB, OB-1, FP-127, KCB, KSN and so on.
The fluorescent brightening agent OB CI 184 is blue in hue and light yellow in appearance. Its melting point is 196-203 °C. FWA OB is suitable for whitening and brightening of thermoplastic plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride, PE, PP, PS, ABS, etc. It has good heat resistance and light resistance.
The fluorescent whitening agent OB-1 CI 393 has the best heat resistance among all optical brightening agents. It is a kind of bright yellow-green crystal powder with blue in hue and its melting point is 350-355 °C. OB-1 CI 393 can be applied to PE, PP, PVC, ABS, PA, PC, PSF(polyester staple fiber) and some other plastics. It boasts the advantages of low dosage, good adaptability and dispersion, excellent heat resistance and weather resistance, applying to field like plastic products in food packaging and children’s toys. It can be added in after-processing or polymerization. Items that are whitened are with high whiteness.
FWA FP-127 CI 378, a pale yellow powder fluorescent whitening agent with blue hue and melting point at 219-221 °C, usually is applied to whiten various kinds of plastic productions. Especially for polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene and pvc, it shows better compatibility and whitening effect. The ideal whitening and brightening effect of artificial leather products can be achieved by FP-127 and the processed artificial leather products will not fade or become yellow in the long term.
Fluorescent Brightener KCB CI 367, a kind of chemical material with blue hue and melting point at 210-212 °C, is non-toxic and odorless, insoluble in water, with excellent light and heat resistance . Fluorescent whitening agent KCB has a strong whitening effect, exhibiting a bright blue light. OBA KCB is mainly used for whitening of synthetic fiber or polyester fiber and plastic products and has a salient brightening effect for colored plastic products. By the way, EVA uses OBA KCB largely.
Fluorescent brightener KSN CI 368 with red hue and melting point at 275-280 °C is a kind of yellow-green crystal powder in appearance. This product characterizes less dosage and good whitening effect. FWA KSN can be used in film, injection molding and extrusion molding materials.
Different plastic products fit with different plastic fluorescent whitening agents. It is tenable to consult professional manufacturer to find the suitable optical whitening agent for the certain product because manufacturer has a reliable technology and quality.